Until Tomorrow
by OwenHarpersGirl
Summary: What if, during "Keg!Max!" Jess had told Rory the truth about not graduating? What if the two had talked after the fight between Dean and Jess? One-Shot


Until Tomorrow

 **Disclaimer: I do not own, nor am I associated with,** _ **Gilmore Girls**_

 **Note: Takes place during 3x19 "Keg!Max!". What if Jess had told Rory the truth about not graduating?**

 **Note 2: Dean is an asshat in this**

"Sad boy," Rory said, cupping the side of Jess's face with her hand. "What's wrong?"

Jess shrugged, but Rory stepped closer to him.

"Jess," she held his face in her hands and raised is until he was looking her in the eyes.

"It's me, come on. Tell me what's going on."

Jess stared at her and thought about lying. If it were anyone else he might have, but this was Rory, his girlfriend. The girl he loved, though he wouldn't say it out loud yet.

"I'm not graduating," he finally said and Rory's face changed to one of concern and confusion.

"What? But I thought everything was fine?" she asked.

"I thought it was," he shrugged, "Apparently it's not though. They said I missed too much."

"But you can catch up can't you?" Rory asked, taking a step back so they could talk easier. "You're so smart, it shouldn't be hard-"

"They won't let me," Jess interrupted, "Said I have to take the whole year over and I'm not doing that which means Luke isn't gonna let me stay either."

Rory didn't say anything and Jess looked up from the spot on the carpet he'd been staring at. She was thinking hard right now, he could tell, she had that same face when she was doing homework.

"I can't go to prom either," he added. "Sorry."

"Jess-" she started softly.

"I gotta go." He walked quickly out of the room. He knew he was being a coward, running like this, but he didn't think he could handle Rory breaking up with him on top of everything else today which he knew was inevitable now.

"Jess wait!"

He glanced over his shoulder, but didn't stop moving, making his way down the stairs He missed the bottom step at the landing and tripped. Right into Dean.

Dean spun around and scowled.

"Watch it," he snapped, pushing Jess away from him.

"Jess!" Rory came up behind him and Dean looked back and forth between the two of them, sneering.

"I gotta go," Jess repeated, making his way down the last few steps.

Dean took one more look at Rory before taking off after Jess. He grabbed the other teen's shoulder and spun him around before punching him in the face.

"Dean!" Rory yelled in shock, but it was no good, everything exploded.

Jess threw a punch back and then the pair were brawling all over the house, tumbling from one room to the next, breaking things along the way until they finally stumbled out the front door, still swinging.

"Jess!" Rory called as soon as she was outside. Police cars were starting to pull up and their lights were flashing.

"Jess," Rory walked over to him and lifted his face so she could see it. Dean had been swinging to hurt. Jess's eye was already starting to swell and his lip was bleeding.

"Oh my gosh, are you okay?"

"Fine," he shrugged her off.

"Jess," she gently, but firmly, sliding her hand down from his face to link her fingers with his. "Don't run again, okay?"

He nodded, but she kept her grip on him nonetheless as she spun around to look at Dean, who still stood there, staring at them.

Most of the police had moved inside and were talking to Kyle and his cousin. They didn't care about the teenagers scattering from the house.

"What were you thinking?" she shouted at Dean.

"Me?" Dean looked shocked, "What about him? He started it!"

"What? When he tripped and bumped into you? You hit him first Dean! For no reason!"

"It wasn't for no reason Rory, you were upset!" Dean defended.

"Yes, and the reason I was upset is between me and Jess, my boyfriend!" Rory shouted and Jess couldn't help the small smile that formed when she said that.

"It's none of your business Dean!" she continued, "It's my business and it's Jess's business! You had no right to involve yourself or to use me as an excuse for beating up my boyfriend!"

"He hit me too!"

"He was defending himself!" Rory exclaimed, "Which is pretty obvious since he's bleeding and you don't have a mark on you!"

"Rory-" Dean started forward.

"Stay away from me Dean," she snapped, turning back to Jess. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up."

She started walking to her house, pulling Jess along with her.

"Rory-" Jess started, but she stopped and put a finger to his lips.

"Don't talk yet," she said and he nodded, letting himself be pulled along.

They got to Rory's house and she sat him in a chair in the kitchen, leaving him there to get a cloth and some ice.

"Hold that on there," she instructed and Jess held the ice to his eye as Rory dabbed at his lip. Jess winced.

"Sorry," Rory murmured.

Jess didn't say anything for a moment, just watched her face. She was concentrating again.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled and she stopped her ministrations to look at him.

"For what?" she asked.

"I know how much you wanted to go to prom," Jess said, looking down at his lap.

Rory sighed. "I'm not upset about prom Jess. I mean, I am, but... why didn't you tel me you were having trouble in school?"

"I didn't know I was."

"Jess," Rory said exasperated.

"I didn't Rory, really." he said honestly, "I knew I wasn't doing great, but I thought I was doing enough to pass."

"Well, what are you going to do?" Rory asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you say you don't want to repeat the year, so what are you going to do?" Rory said.

"I don't know," Jess said, "Luke isn't gonna let me stay, so..."

"Maybe we will-"

"No," Jess shook his head, "He was clear. I had to graduate to live with him."

"Well, alright, if you can't stay here then go on a road trip."

"What?" Jess was confused. Where had that come from?

"It's perfect!" Rory said, "Me and my mom are going to be in Europe the whole summer anyway. If Luke really won't let you stay then you'll probably have to quit your job at Walmart cause you can't afford to rent a place yet. I think a road trip would be great for you! You could follow Kerouac's trail!"

"That sounds great," Jess admitted, "For the summer, but what about after?"

"You could come back here," Rory said, tentative this time. "I know you don't want to repeat the year, but maybe you could get your GED? Luke might let you stay with him again and you might be able to get your job at Walmart back, you're one of the best there right, so it probably wouldn't be too hard. And if you can't then we can just keep you somewhere in my dorm room."

Jess chuckled lowly.

"Jess," Rory tilted his face back up. "We don't have to figure it all out tonight. You need to talk to Luke and hear what he has to say."

"He's not going to like this," Jess groaned, imagining his uncle's reaction.

"No, he's not," Rory conceded, "But he will like that you sat down and talked to him about it instead of him finding out from someone else."

Jess nodded and Rory ran her fingers through his hair, pulling him close.

"I promise we'll figure this out," Rory said, "But no more running, okay? I need to know you aren't just going to take off."

"I won't," Jess said, "I promise."

"Good," Rory said, "Now, I don't know about you, but I'm starving."

"You're always starving," Jess said dryly.

"Hush you," Rory silenced him with a kiss. "Mom and I rented some movies, why don't you go pick one and I'll order us some Chinese?"

"Sounds good," Jess replied, pulling Rory in for another kiss. "Thanks," he murmured when they broke apart.

"Anytime," she smiled, "Now go, pick a movie."

He kissed her once more and then walked into the other room, the ice still held on his eye.

Rory watched him go before she started dialling. She was going to order Chinese, but she had one call to make first. The phone rang and rang before the machine finally picked up.

"Hey Luke, it's Rory. Listen, don't panic or freak out of anything, but Jess is here, he got into a fight at the party. I can't go into detail now, Jess will explain everything later. I just wanted you to know... It wasn't his fault. I know you might not believe that, but it's true. He was defending himself and I just wanted you to know that. Alright, well, I'll see you tomorrow. Bye."

She hung up and took a deep breath before dialling the Chinese place.

"Hey, I put the movie in," Jess said, walking back into the kitchen.

"Okay, I'll be in in a minute," Rory smile at him, "How do you feel about the chicken column tonight?"

"I've stopped questioning your food choices," Jess replied.

"Good boy," she said as he came up behind her and wrapped an arm around her waist as Rory ordered.

"So I've been thinking," Rory said and Jess groaned.

"What?"

"In the time it took me to put a movie in, you've somehow come up with something serious enough to start it with 'I've been thinking'."

"Shut up, it's not that serious, it's just a suggestion," Rory said.

"Alright," Jess sighed, "What's your suggestion?"

"I know we can't go to Stars Hollow prom," Rory said, "But Chilton has a prom too..."

Jess groaned, his head falling onto Rory's shoulder.

"We don't have to go," Rory said hastily, "I just thought if you wanted to..."

"Alright," Jess sighed again.

"Alright... we'll go?" Rory questioned.

"We'll go," Jess nodded and Rory smiled widely, hugging him tightly. "I did promise you a prom after all."

Rory kissed him. "Thank you," she said, "And I promise we don't have to stay for long."

"We'll stay as long as you want," Jess said, Just so long as I don't have to wear gloves or tails, and I can't promise I'll keep the tie on all night."

"Deal," Rory said, "Now come on, let's get plates, the food should be here soon."

She dragged him over to the cupboard and handed him plates while she grabbed them sodas and they settled in to relax and forget about everything until tomorrow.

 **This is something I've had floating around in my head for a while. I think of it every time I watch this episode and I finally got it written and I'm actually really pleased with how it turned out.**

 **Thanks so much for reading and let me know what you think!**


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